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Jays defeat Mariners, 7-5

TORONTO &ndash; Clinging to post-season hopes that are best described as the stuff of fantasy, the Toronto Blue Jays closed the books on August by sending the Seattle Mariners deeper into their free-fall.

Blue Jays' Troy Glaus slides safely into second base ahead of the tag by Seattle Mariners second baseman Jose Vidro, in the Toronto game on August 31, 2007. Jays beat the Mariners 7-5. (MIKE CASSESE / REUTERS)

By Shi DavidiCanadian Press

Fri., Aug. 31, 2007

TORONTO – Clinging to post-season hopes that are best described as the stuff of fantasy, the Toronto Blue Jays closed the books on August by sending the Seattle Mariners deeper into their free-fall.

Home runs from Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios backed a just-good-enough Shaun Marcum in a 7-5 victory Friday night that capped a 15-13 month for the home side.

The fourth victory in six games for the Blue Jays (68-66), before a crowd of 34,518, lifted them within 5 1/2 games of the Mariners (73-60), now losers of seven straight, for second in the wild card race.

The Detroit Tigers remain between the expansion cousins in the standings, with the New York Yankees at the front of the pack.

Still, the grim realities of trying to chase down three teams with one month of baseball left hasn't kept the Blue Jays from dreaming big. For their fantasy to come true, they'll need to sweep the Mariners, do some major damage in their seven remaining dates with the Yankees and get some help from others.

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"The odds are against us," manager John Gibbons said before the game. "We still haven't been eliminated yet. Run the race and see where it gets us."

Friday's affair was a good start, as a dogged Marcum (12-5) survived five innings and left leading 6-4 as the offence smacked around a very shaky Jarrod Washburn (9-12). Jeremy Accardo capped four strong innings by the bullpen with a scoreless ninth – thanks to a spectacular 4-6-3 double play to end it – for his 26th save.

Seattle opened the scoring in the first on Adrian Beltre's run-scoring infield single and after John McDonald's two-run triple put Toronto up 2-1 in the second, Beltre tied it in the third with a solo shot.

The Blue Jays then really went to work on Washburn, as Glaus ripped a two-run blast, his 18th, and Overbay later added a solo shot, his 10th, for a 5-2 lead. Overbay homered for the second straight game, his first longballs since May 28.

Rios drove his 22nd over the wall in left-centre for a 6-2 lead in the fourth but the Mariners showed a pulse when Jose Vidro hit a two-run blast, his sixth, in the fifth to make it a two-run game.

A Kenji Johjima RBI double off Casey Janssen in the eighth scored Raul Ibanez, who walked against Scott Downs, and pulled Seattle within one. The Blue Jays responded with a rare manufactured run in the bottom of the frame against closer J.J. Putz as Alex Rios singled, stole second and scored on a Frank Thomas base hit.

Seattle – mired in its second seven-game losing streak of the season, they also have two six-game losing skids – was without slugger Richie Sexson (left hamstring) and second baseman Jose Lopez (benched).

Notes: Outfielder Adam Lind will join the Blue Jays on Saturday as the first of the club's September callups. Another four players, including lefty Joe Kennedy, will join them Monday and Tuesday once the season ends for triple-A Syracuse. "It's more of an audition," GM J.P. Ricciardi said of Kennedy. "It'd be nice to have three lefties in the pen instead of two." C Sal Fasano, INF Hector Luna and RHP Josh Banks are likely to be the others. ... Jays catching prospect Robinzon Diaz is out 6-to-8 weeks with a broken hamate bone in his hand. He's expected to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic once he's recovered. ... Blue Jays lefty Gustavo Chacin is expected to be fully ready for next spring after undergoing surgery on his shoulder Wednesday. A small tear in his rotator cuff was discovered during exploratory surgery. "He should be ready to acutally pitch and compete for a job," said Ricciardi. "We need as much depth as we can get."

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